Adaptation
by Storm Elf
Summary: ORIGINAL IDEA! Kurama is adapting to life with a step-brother and step-father whom he doesnt like. Everything has changed for the worst. better than it sounds only light Angst
1. OOH first chapter! interesting, isnt it!

Alright, I have never seen a story dealing with this topic so here I go!!!  
  
Don't own it, don't sue  
  
"Suiichi! Come down for a moment, there is someone that I would like you to meet."  
  
"Coming mother" Kurama said, slowly descending to the first floor of the house that he and his mother lived in.  
  
When he walked into the room his eyes scanned over the three people standing in it. One of them was, naturally, his mother. The second was a man around his mother's age or perhaps a little younger with light brown hair and eyes the color of the sky at midnight. The third was younger than him, maybe twelve years old, with hair the color of a country dirt road. He was looking around the room so Kurama couldn't see his face yet. From his choice of clothes it appeared that he was the type whose image was more important than anything else, a real 'cool kid'.  
  
"Suiichi, this is Dr. Tarquine, one of the doctors that helped treat me in the hospital (AN/ I don't know what his step fathers name is supposed to be so I just made one up, kay?) and his son, Suiichi"  
  
The two Suiichis locked eyes. Kurama could see that Suiichi was looking him over, seeing if he was cool enough to talk to. Apparently the answer was no because he didn't say anything. It was Tarquine who greeted him. After a few tense moments, Kurama went back up stairs.  
  
ONE YEAR LATER:  
  
So much had happened since then. Dr. Tar, as Kurama had called him when no one else was not around, and Shiori had grown very close. The two Suiichis, however, had not even really talked to each other since they had first met, not that they had talked then either. One of them would go to dinner at the other one's house and sat next to one another but they said nothing to each other.  
  
One night they found that they had been called into the same room.  
  
"We have something important to tell you" Dr. Tar said in a business like tone. Kurama had to keep from rolling his eyes. It sounded more like he was trying to get them to reorganize their portfolio rather than talk about the relationship with him and Shiori.  
  
"We are engaged." Shiori interrupted with a pleasant smile on her face.  
  
"We will not be getting married for some time but Shiori and I have talked about this. Suiichi, umm, not you son, big Suiichi, you and your mother will be moving in with Suiichi and me."  
  
Kurama forced a smile and hoped that it looked real. In his head he was practically screaming. He could not stop thinking about everything that he was losing even though he was not moving very far away. The main thing was his garden. He had spend hours in it toiling away, making every flower perfect. "My house is larger so it would be a better fit. There are three bedrooms but once all of the boxes from this house get over there we will not be able to use it because there will be nowhere else to store all of the stuff. This will only be temporary though. We will be moving to a larger house after the marriage."  
  
"But Dad, why cant they just stay at their own house?"  
  
"Because, Shiori and I have to save up some money for the larger house."  
  
Kurama sat through the argument between Suiichi and Dr. Tar. Suiichi was clearly not pleased with the idea of someone sleeping in his room. His mind raced with ideas to escape the situation. He could not find any. His last hope was that Yusuke could come up with a mission. As usual, missions only came at inopportune moments which explained why he could be free of missions for weeks only to have one come up on his first date with some pretty girl from his school.  
  
"This is great news but I have to do some math homework real quick. I did not understand all of the lesson so I have to call one of my friends before he leaves his house." Kurama blurted out to free himself. This excuse gave him an evil glare from his soon to be step brother.  
  
He did not actually have any more homework to do, he had finished it long before he had been called down for the important discussion but he really needed to talk to someone. He reached the phone in his room and quickly dialed Yusuke's number.  
  
"Hello, if you are a toddler and want me to do work for you or the grim reaper, go to hell! If you are anyone else then leave a message after the beep." The phone said before emitting a shrill beep  
  
Kurama hung up the phone in annoyance. He dialed Kuwabara's number even though he didn't think that he could handle such complexities as answering a phone, especially if Yukina was anywhere near him. Again, he got an answering machine.  
  
"Where did they go? It's a Tuesday night for crying out loud! Well, one last shot, good old Genki"  
  
His fingers typed the number into the phone and he put it to his ear, waiting for someone to answer. Sadly, he heard a tape start to play. "I am not here nor do I want to talk to anyone. Do not call me!"  
  
"Where could everyone go on a Tuesday night?" Kurama asked as he reached for his calendar. He scanned down to the date. "Oh crap! There was a meeting tonight, figures. Well, since I missed it Hiei will be here soon to make sure that I am still living."  
  
As if on cue, there was a small tap on the glass of Kurama's window. He opened it and let Hiei in.  
  
"Why did you miss the meeting Kurama?" Hiei demanded, not sounding pleased about having to go to Kurama's house when it was not raining.  
  
"I am sorry, but I was not able to attend due to family matters. My mother and Dr. Tarquine were announcing their engagement to my soon to be step brother and me. I will also be moving to a different house soon so I will be hard to reach for the next few weeks. Please inform the rest of our group."  
  
Without a word Hiei turned and left. Kurama knew that Hiei wouldn't have wanted to listen to his complaints so he had not even bothered trying to tell him about the Dr. Tar problem. He decided then and there that he would not trouble everyone else with his problems. Each of them had troubles. Yusuke had his drunk mother, Kuwabara had his confused Yukina, Hiei had too many to count but also had Kuwabara to deal with. He could handle his own troubles.  
  
A FEW DAYS LATER  
  
"Suiichi dear, I have a bag for you. Now remember, only put the things that you think that you will need such as clothes, stuff for your school work, and any books that you want to read between now and the moving date."  
  
"Yes mother" Kurama said, taking the duffle bag and placing it on his floor. He looked around his room to decide what he wanted to take. He pulled some of his favorite outfits out of the closet and placed them inside the bag. He would just keep all of his school supplies in his backpack where they already were. However, he needed to add a few things to his collection. He threw a computer dictionary in one of the smaller compartments and added a few more sharpened pencils to his already large collection. He tossed a protractor in with the dictionary and looked on his desk to see if he had missed anything. Everything that he needed was already shoved in the bag.  
  
Once the necessities were taken care of, Kurama moved on to what he wanted to take. He slipped a CD player, headphones, and his CD carrier into the bag, placing them next to his socks. He scanned the room until he saw the small snapshot on his mirror. It had everyone in it. It had Hiei, Yukina, Yusuke (with Puu on his head), Botan, Kuwabara, Koenma, and himself. Everyone, even Hiei, was smiling. Koenma had decided to appear in teenager form for that photo but Kurama also had one of him as a toddler. He put both of those pictures into his bag and reached under his desk to pull out a small sketch book. He looked though the pages. They were full of sketches of his friends. He had one of Yusuke shooting off his spirit gun, one of Puu, one of Hiei in his demon form, and multiple ones of Youko Kurama. He flipped to the last page that he had drawn on. It was an unfinished picture of Kuronue. (AN/ I have seen so many different spellings of that that it isn't even funny!) In a small corner of the page Kurama drew the pendent that he had been so attached to.  
  
Soon he figured that he had everything that he could use, which included more books than most libraries dream of having. He had no idea just how long the stay was going to be. His mother and soon-to-be step father had not yet set a definite date yet. All he knew was that all of the time spent there would be torture.  
  
"Are you ready?" Shiori asked cheerfully.  
  
"Yes Mother" Kurama said, trying to forget about the fact that he was leaving his room for one of the last times. As he got into the car he stared longingly at the garden that would soon die without his care. He had been thankful for the early spring that had allowed him to get a jump start on everything. Now it was put to waste.  
  
They pulled into Dr. Tar's driveway some time later. To Kurama it felt like eternity. He stared out of the window, not wanting his mother to see his sad face. On the way there he got a glance at his new high school. Dr. Tar lived in a different school district. At that point he knew that Shiori had taken the very long way so that he could get a glance at the school. The other Suiichi would still be in the middle school for one more year. He would be starting out with no one that he knew. This year had been the best. Yusuke and Kuwabara had finished middle school and were in the same high school as Kurama. They had even had an elective together as well as lunch.  
  
I silent tear escaped his eye. Nothing was like it had been before. He had heard about this district. It was known for its bad asses. The school was huge. It looked like a maze to Kurama even from the outside. The parking lots were separated into multiple sections, obviously separate ones for teachers, staff, juniors, and seniors, as well as a very small parking lot for the principal, vice principal, and other select members. None of the lots were marked though.  
  
Suddenly he noticed that they were pulling into a driveway. He looked around as though it were the first time that he had seen the place. It was the first time that he had seen it in the day time. Dinners were normally late, always after the sun had set. He grass was somewhat green but mostly brown. He peered about to see if there were any trees nearby the house. The only tree in the yard as a small squatty one that Kurama could have jumped over. There were places to put flowers and shrubs but Dr. Tar was apparently more interested in growing dirt than flowers.  
  
Dr. Tar and Suiichi greeted them at the door. Dr. Tar and Shiori hugged and kissed, Dr. Tar shook Kurama's hand, and Shiori hugged Suiichi. Neither Kurama or Suiichi made any move towards each other in the way of greeting.  
  
"Suiichi dear" Shiori called once she had walked over to the car. "Come help me with these bags"  
  
"Yes Mother" he replied as he started walking there.  
  
Once all of the bags were taken in Kurama sat on his new bed. He instantly detested it but kept his mouth shut. It did not take very long for Suiichi to walk into Kurama's new room.  
  
"Lets get a few things straight" the younger of the two said. "You are in MY house. You will not go in my room, I have the say in what channel the TV is on, and you don't cause trouble"  
  
"I have no desire to go into your room until I need to" Kurama said as politely as he could manage. "I hardly ever watch TV, and I never cause trouble."  
  
"The game stations are mine as are the games. You cant use them."  
  
"Fine with me, I don't find video games entertaining"  
  
"I get to take my showers first in the morning"  
  
"Very well, I don't mind waiting"  
  
"My DVDs are mine, don't touch them."  
  
"I have my own, thank you, and you are welcome to borrow them if you want."  
  
"You are the new twerp that has invaded my house, stolen my name, taken my father, is that clear"  
  
"I have done none of those things. I was invited into your house, I am older, therefore I had my name before you and yours and thus could not have stolen it, and I have not harmed your father in any way. You can keep him if you want. I see no reason for you to continue this. You are merely trying to anger me with these rules and are only angering yourself because none of them have bothered me." Kurama said those things without hardly looking at him. Instead he focused on taking a few things out of his bag. It would only be a few days until the room was clogged with boxes but both Dr. Tar and Shiori had thought that it would be best if the two Suiichis had different rooms at first.  
  
"And don't touch my computer"  
  
"I was told by your father that it was the family computer and I was free to use it anytime that I wished." What Suiichi had not realized was that he had found the one thing that Kurama needed, the computer. He used it for research, keeping in touch with friends, and too many school assignments to count. "are you finished yet?"  
  
"Until I think of something else"  
  
"Now I want to get a few things straightened out. One, I am not here to take everything away from you. All that you have lost so far is a spare room. Two, things will be better if we get along, for our parents sake if not for our own. Three, there are some aspects of my life that I would prefer that you stay out of. It would be considerate of you to keep your nose in your own business and out of mine. And four, if you behave civilly to me then I shall do so to you. You treat me like dirt and you will wish that you were up to that level. Any problems?"  
  
"I will do what I want when I want to do it. If I want to know something, you tell me. I don't care if you think that it is private. This is my house, I can do what I want."  
  
Without another word, Suiichi left the room, leaving Kurama wishing that he had not said that last bit about the dirt. He really wanted to get along with him but it did not seem possible given the circumstances. Suiichi was convinced that he was trying to take everything away from him, including his father. The only thing that kept Kurama from throttling the poor human was the fact that his mother would highly disapprove. Killing siblings was not nearly as common among humans as it was demons and was frowned upon. Things here were very different from his old life as a thief, lucky Suiichi.  
  
)(  
  
now was that original or what? (Or what is more like it)  
  
please review. I just uploaded a chapter on another story and no one reviewed it so now I'm kinda depressed and think that I cant write worth crap. 


	2. da da da! i updated! sorry it took so lo...

Thanx for reviewing!!!  
  
Storm31: thanks for the name. I couldn't find it anywhere. I still think that I am going to call him Dr. Tar so that I don't confuse anyone. That can be his first name, kay? Oh, one other thing, where did you find that? If your remember  
  
ABOUT A HALF A MINUTE AFTER THE LAST CHAP. ENEDED  
  
As Kurama fell to his bed he snatched his day calendar. His eyes fell of the day of the week, Sunday. Only one night until he would got to his new school where he was certain that he could find at least one friend. He let the calendar fall to his chest as he stared at the ceiling in despair. He slowly closed his eyes as he though of all of the possibilities. His friend could be someone like him, a studying book worm. He though about that for a moment and quickly decided that they would be no fun to talk to. Perhaps they would be a video game addict. Despite what he had said to Suiichi, he loved video games, especially James Bond, the one game that he had gotten Hiei to play. The game addict might be into final fantasy, or maybe Simpson's road rage.  
  
Kurama softly fell asleep during his thoughts. In his dream he slowly opened his eyes and looked around his room. It was not his new room or his old one. It was his den, his fox den. He had not been there in over sixteen years but it was exactly as he had left it. As he looked around his eyes fell on a figure in the doorway.  
  
"Hello Suiichi" the figure said, allowing the light to show his face and fox ears.  
  
"Youko?" he could not help but to be amazed.  
  
"Yes, it is me. I am part of you and you know that. I'd say that I am your better half but I don't like to point out the obvious." The vain fox said with a smirk. "now, to the point. I need to escape. You cant keep me in"  
  
(BOAN: (big old author's note) to clear a few things up about this dream: Kurama as we know him, complete with PINK hair, yes it is really pink, will be referred to as Suiichi 'cause the name Kurama is for Youko Kurama. Watch the poltergeist report if you don't believe me. It's what birdy boy calls him)  
  
"Please, now is not the time" Suiichi  
  
"I will be the one who decides when" Kurama roared. "I admit, I am not strong enough to take full control yet. I am talking to you only to warn you. I will be fighting for control. When you get angry it is much easier. Now wake up before I kill you"  
  
Kurama woke up with a start, looking around the unfamiliar room. He looked at his hand. It had much longer nails that he normally had. A bit of silver caught his eye. He watched his hair fade to soft pinkish-red. He knew that that dream was true. After Youko Kurama had gotten out during the dark tournament he had felt a slight split in his soul. It was no longer perfectly merged, and it was getting worse. At first it was simple thing. He could feel a slight struggle but it was almost too small to notice. Sometimes he wished that he could turn into the silver fox spirit once more. One time he had tried to, just to see what would happen, he ended up with a large headache and two small lumps on his head where his ears would have been. He could not change physically but he could still tell that something was going on. He began to crave meats at one point. Mostly chicken and small game, exactly what a fox would eat. Other times he was almost a vegetarian. Feelings that he had felt before in small doses became larger. His human side was controlling his body, that was sure, but he could feel Youko was there trying to advise him.  
  
He shook of the experience as a failed attempt by his other half to gain control. He turned over and looked at his clock. One am, it just figured. He knew that he was not going to get any more sleep. Instead of trying, he reached for the flashlight that he had put on his bedside stand. The turned it on and shone it around the room. The walls were sponge painted a light blue with a dolphin boarder around the top. The carpet was a darker blue. He searched around until he spied what he was looking for, his sketchbook.  
  
He flipped to the page of the unfinished Kuronue and started working on the wings. He lost track of time, lost in a daze of drawing. By the time that he was happy with how his former best friend looked, it was time to get up.  
  
He walked out of his room and almost ran into Suiichi. The small boy looked annoyed at being reminded Kurama so early in the morning. He slipped into the bathroom as Kurama walked past and into the kitchen for his breakfast.  
  
"Good morning Suiichi" his mother greeted him, turning her back on the pancakes that she was making for her two little boys. "I made your favorite, blue berry"  
  
"Thank you" Kurama said, accepting a large plate of blue berry pancakes, covered with butter and drowned in syrup. He hastily ate them. He was glad that Suiichi had opted a shower over going into the kitchen. It meant that he got to eat the pancakes extra hot and right off of the griddle. We was so busy devouring the pancakes that he hardly noticed the bacon that had been put on a separate plate not far away. He quickly corrected his mistake as he picked up a piece of bacon and put it in the syrup sea. The bacon boat quickly sank and was then gobbled up by a hungry Kurama. He was just finishing and most likely had a stupid look on his face when Suiichi came in. He grumbled something and sat down to his pancakes. He ate them seeming either asleep or bored out of his mind.  
  
Either way, Kurama didn't stick around to find out. Instead he showered and got dressed. He dried his hair and looked in the mirror. It was, well, fluffy. It looked somewhat like he had stuck his finger in a light socket. That was no way to look on his first day at a new school. He attacked it with a brush and hairspray before it behaved. Once satisfied with his appearance, he walked out of his room.  
  
His mother was taking him to school since it was his first day. She had offered to drive Suiichi but he had declined. Kurama sat in the car and watched the scenery fly by. He saw students walking by in their uniforms. He was wearing one now as well in a much blander color than he usually wore. He did not want to attract attention to himself yet.  
  
His mother kissed him good bye as he got out of the car. At that point he didn't care what the others would say. He had a feeling that his mother would be the last friendly face that he saw in a while.  
  
Walking towards the large building he pulled out his schedule. He had read over it already but he did not remember any of it right now. First gym, then health, followed by history, and then lunch. After lunch he had to deal with a math class, biology, and finally art class. "at least I have something to look forward to" he mumbled as he pushed the doors open and walked into the school. Things did not start out well.  
  
"Why is that girl wearing the boy's uniform?" he heard someone not far away from him ask. They weren't trying to be rude or directing the question towards him but it stung a little.  
  
"I am a male, thank you" Kurama said, loud enough for the two people to hear him. The two boys were embarrassed and didn't say anything else.  
  
Kurama put the incident behind him and walked down one of the hallways, hopefully towards his homeroom. He found the room without too much trouble thanks to a friendly teacher. By the time that he got there the teacher had already started taking roll. He knocked on the door and was let in.  
  
"Class, this is Suiichi. He just transferred here. You can take a seat over there" the teacher said motioning to a lone seat in the back corner. It was the only empty seat in the room. The class stared at him. He was apparently the most interesting thing in the school. A science project to be stared and poked at. Slowly the students decided that he was about as interesting as a wad of gum that was stuck under a desk and turned back to their teacher.  
  
Roll was taken and announcements were made. Most of the students slept though the short moment until the bell rang. Kurama could have found a nicer sound. Then again, Shishywakamora's (sorry about spelling) chorus of a thousand souls (or was it skulls?) sounded nicer than that. It was a harsh tone that Kurama could easily learn to hate. Everyone stumbled around until they were clear of the classroom. They hallways were quickly crowded and menacing. He noticed an extremely tall student, well built with a goatee, who was walking with a certain swagger that somehow made people get out of his way and made him look somewhat like a cross between a psycho killer and a drunk maniac. Despite that, he seemed somehow friendly. Kurama also noticed that several small students were using his wake to travel faster without getting smashed or trampled. (friends of mine will recognize this person)  
  
Somehow he found the gym. The teacher talked to him and then lent him a gym uniform for the day. He was a rather strong looking man with no hair on his head save his eyebrows which were a light blond and could easily be missed. He identified himself as Mr. Jerib. (I'm crappy at making up Jap. names so if it pisses someone off, sorry!!!) Kurama had to keep from laughing when Mr. Jerib had come close to him. He had clearly shaved his head to look younger. He had been losing his hair for quite some time. Fortunately, he managed to keep his mouth shut.  
  
"Everyone here must have noticed the new kid." Mr. Jerib announced in a booming voice that filled the gym. "Come over here and introduce yourself"  
  
Kurama walked out in front of everyone, wishing that he had known about the gym class ahead of time and had been able to secure his own gym clothes. The clothes that Mr. Jerib had given him were a little too small. The appearance was not one that he wanted to make. He knew that the other students were thinking 'why is that guy wearing short shorts?' he tugged his shirt down some to prevent it from showing his stomach and started to introduce himself. "Hello, my name is Suiichi and I just transferred here from Idontknowthenameofhis high school."  
  
He actually heard someone mutter "yep, he's gay" and saw his friend nod. He had hardly walked into the school and was already a social outcast. Soon news would be all around the school. Everyone in this class would tell everyone in their next class and they would do the same. If he was going to make a friend, he would have to do it in his second period class.  
  
"We are going to play.." The teacher started 'please not basketball' Kurama thought. "Basketball" Mr. Jerib finished.  
  
'Damn! what is he? A Telepath? I hate basketball! I suck at it' Kurama though, hoping that he did not look pissed off on the outside.  
  
"Roger and Calvin will be picking teams" the teacher announced.  
  
Two boys who handled the ball like professionals started picking out people they both picked four others and then started walking over to the far court. They were clearly the A team. The teacher called out two other names and the two students walked to the front. They started to call out people's names as well. Kurama looked around and saw that one team would end up with six people instead of five. After a short time he realized that that one person was him.  
  
"Suiichi, you will be the alternate. Captains, I want you to try to rotate him in, alright?" the two boys nodded and one took his team over to a closet. They came back wearing yellow jerseys. One of them, a classical geek, who looked like he would rather be studying for a test than in gym class, handed Kurama a jersey. He thanked him and turned his attention to the people playing the game.  
  
The geek who had handed Kurama the jersey was covering a friend of his. The friend went to get the ball and had decided that the best way to do so was to slide half way across the gym. The geek went after him and tripped over his friend. His glasses went flying off of his head and landed some distance away. One of the lenses popped out.  
  
The geek went to the nurse to get the glasses fixed and Kurama was in the game. He managed to do everything wrong. He tripped over his own shoe laces and toppled onto some guy who he later learned was named David. David was short with red hair, freckles, and glasses. He looked up at Kurama who quickly apologized, his face turning the same color as his hair.  
  
"Hey, gay guy, keep off of David, he has a girl friend already" someone yelled.  
  
Kurama tried to ignore it and went back to trying to not to embarrass himself anymore than he had already done. He was overjoyed when he heard the teacher announce that class was over. Everyone went into the locker room and changed clothes. He grimaced as he glanced at his schedule, health. As much as he normally could stand the class, he did not want anything to do with it this time.  
  
The bell rang and he went off towards his next class room. He considered himself fortunate because this time he knew where it was. He had seen it on his way to gym.  
  
The teacher introduced him to the class and he took his seat. Things went alright, nothing out of the ordinary. The same thing happened with history. The teacher was still talking when the bell rang for lunch. He raced off in the direction that everyone else was headed in and found a seat away from everyone else and took out his sketch book.  
  
"Great, everyone thinks that I am gay, so much for my chances of making a friend" he muttered to himself. "Or not." he added as he looked up and saw a girl walking directly towards him.  
  
"Hi, my name is Miny" she said in a voice that sounded like a mouse had gotten caught in a door way.  
  
"Hello Miny, my name is Suiichi"  
  
Kurama talked to her for a few minutes before she asked him if he wanted to go to the movies. He declined saying that he had to help his mother unpack. She asked about a few other dates before he had had enough.  
  
"Miny, don't take any offence but I do not wish to date you" What Kurama did not realize was that this was a huge mistake. Miny was sent over to see if the rumors were true or not. Because he turned her down, his life at school would be a living hell.  
  
He sat through the remaining two classes, math and biology, separated him from art class, his expected savior. Math wasn't much worse than his old school. He had nearly fallen asleep but that was to be expected. The best part was that no one had made any cruel comments to him due to the calming aura in the room. Biology was great for him. The teacher was apparently a lover of plants and that was one thing that Kurama knew about. He had managed to save the teacher's favorite spider plant by telling her what to do to help it. He had already passed what they were working on, mitosis and meiosis, so he hardly had to pay attention.  
  
Kurama walked into the art room expecting the best. What could be better than art class? He already had his sketch book out and flipped to a blank page. The teacher was a little late and the class was a little rowdy but that was to be expected. The teacher walked in slowly. She was wearing a dress that would have been attractive if it were in her size. As it was, a toothpick would have asked for a larger size. It gave the effect of a tube of toothpaste that had been squeezed from the middle, causing the sides to bulge. If they had met under different circumstances, Kurama would have guessed that she was on her way to a corner or maybe to one of Yusuke's mother's parties. He hair was curled to the point of being frizzed out at every imaginable angle as well as a few that he did not think existed. Either way, art class was art class no matter what the teacher looked like.  
  
The class hushed as soon as she walked in. Kurama continued to stand along the wall, waiting to be noticed. He took that time to look over the class. There were only two other boys. Miny was there as well as her friend. The teacher finally noticed his presence and motioned him forward.  
  
"Sit next to the trouble maker in the back" she ordered him as she pointed to a seat next to one of the few boys in the class. The back of the room was hardly a place to put a new student, nor was next to a trouble maker, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. He walked over there, wishing that his boy had not yet heard the rumors and would possibly be his friend. His hopes were dashed on the ground as soon as his butt hit the seat.  
  
"So, you're the new kid that everyone says is a fruitcake, right?"  
  
"Yes" Kurama said as he thought over his new title, not noticing that there was not cruelty in the kid's voice.  
  
"My name is Upton"  
  
"What?" Kurama asked, totally caught off guard by the name.  
  
"That's right, Upton, like the guy who wrote The Jungle. Isn't it a stupid name?"  
  
"I suppose so" Kurama looked at the supposed trouble maker. 'who wouldn't act as though he had something to prove with a name like that, Upton' he thought knowing that his thoughts were clear in his eyes.  
  
"I know that this sounds rude, but are the rumors true?"  
  
"I borrowed a gym uniform that was a little too small and it looked like short shorts"  
  
Upton smiled some, a friendly smile, not even noticing that Kurama had not answered his question. "I suppose that Roger is in your class then?"  
  
"Yes, I believe I heard the teacher say that name"  
  
"He is the school 'un-cool' patrol. He is the most popular brat in the history of the world. He dissed you so you will most likely never make a friend here. The entire school looks up to him like a god. It can get sickening. The only two people that I know of who don't hang onto his every word as though it would keep them from falling to their death is me and dumb dumb, the art teacher's little pet."  
  
"You two, shut up this instant!" the art teacher roared to the back of the class.  
  
"And now the nazi whore hates you too" Upton said without batting an eye at her comment.  
  
"Good," the teacher started "Now everyone, write this down. You will be drawing a picture of a man with short brown hair, blue eyes, tall, muscular, with a red shirt and jeans on. The background will be a forest setting." Once she was finished she sat at her desk and took out a magazine and did not look up for the rest of the class period.  
  
"Does she always do this?" Kurama asked softly.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Tell everyone exactly what to draw."  
  
"Oh, Ms. Raydel always tells us everything down to the last detail and takes points off if it isn't exactly what she is thinking of."  
  
"ooh, fun" Kurama said softly as he sketched out the beginnings of a man standing next to a tree, leaning on it slightly. 'so much for a good time at school.'  
  
Ok everyone that is it for now, just give me more time and I will crank out more chapters. If you need entertainment, check out some of my other stories. I have two other Yu Yu stories, three LOTR, and one HP story.  
  
REASON FOR RUMORS: Kurama's personality is just all too likable and I don't want him making too many friends yet. That will come later. Nowhere will he deny it but neither will he conform it. There will most likely be a yaoi sequel but this will have about as much romance as I do common sense, which is absolutely zippo.  
  
Isn't that sad, I am only on the second chapter and I am already thinking about the sequel! Ok, I already know what will happen in it. 


	3. looky here, another chapter

Kurama finished his sketch quickly and turned his attention to his sketch book. He flipped to the first blank page and started to tap it with the eraser end of his pencil. After a moment he looked around the room for some creative inspiration. Sadly, there was none to be found. His eyes fell to the floor where he saw that the shadow of something formed an X shape. He slowly started to draw that shape. Soon it became the cloth x of Jin's shirt during the dark tournament. He was moving onto the hair, having done a rough sketch of Jin's body floating in mid air complete with a cloud behind him, when he noticed that there was a shadow over his paper. He looked up and saw Ms. Raydel standing over him.  
  
"And what are you doing?" she asked as though she had no idea what someone would do with a paper and pencil.  
  
"I'm working on a sketch for a friend of mine" Kurama said as though it were nothing new. "I already finished my work for you and I have a good deal of free time."  
  
"That's nice" Ms. Raydel grabbed a corner of his book and took it off of his desk. "There will be no drawing outside of my assignments."  
  
"Yes Ms. Raydel." Kurama said as softly as he could, being sure to look down. He was not truly embarrassed or ashamed. He was actually extremely mad and remembered what Youko Kurama had told him about trying to come through when he was angry. He did not want anyone to see him if his eyes were gold or hear a change in his voice.  
  
Once the oppressive teacher left, Upton put a hand on Kurama's shoulder. "Don't worry about her. She acts like this to everyone. Anyone different or from another school must be an ax murderer or rapist and should be treated cruelly until they leave. At least that is what she thinks. I couldn't care less. I don't have enough friends to be picky and I really couldn't care less if you were an ax murderer."  
  
Kurama could not help but laugh at his new found friend.  
  
"I suppose I should tell you how things work around here, huh? Well over there in the right hand corner are the prissy girls." Upton motioned over to where Miny was sitting with her friend. "You know the type, cant hold a normal conversation with them because they don't know anything about anything unless it has to do with hair or makeup. In front of us are the popular. They know about other stuff but they just refuse to talk to anyone about it because they are far too cool to talk to anyone but the god of coolness himself, Roger. Right up by the teacher's desk is her little pet, dumb dumb. I don't know what his name is but it doesn't matter. And there is one last little group, the weirdos who somehow manage to be so low that no one will talk to them but still way above me. They are a mixture of the odds and ends. Little cliques who are different from one another don't have enough people to survive on their own so they feed off of others. They are the Goths and hippies and a couple other little groups." Upton stopped talking for a moment and glanced at the clock. A bell rang and he grabbed his backpack. "And that would be the bell. Thank you, you have been a wonderful audience, I'll be here all week!"  
  
Kurama walked out of the classroom laughing his head off. He had decided that he really only needed one friend to be happy here, and Upton was that friend.  
  
Kurama's new found happiness was crushed when he returned home. Suiichi was sitting on the couch watching some show that was guaranteed to lower the watcher's IQ by twenty points. Kurama asked him if he could watch a different show but was met with only evil comments about how it was Suiichi's house. He tried to pull the whole "I'm older than you" ploy but he found that it held little to no effect on the younger Suiichi.  
  
"Fine!" Kurama growled. He became quite worried when he realized that he actually had growled. He ran up to his room to calm down. "I hope that no one notices that I have a tail!" he muttered as he closed his door.  
  
His first order of business was to quickly remove his pants because they pinched his tail. Tail freed, he ran his fingers through his hair, searching for lumps of ears or long silver strands. As he searched, he looked in the mirror.  
  
"Good, green eyes, red hair, and no ears! Well, no fox ears anyway. Now, how do I get rid of this tail?"  
  
Kurama sad on his bed and relaxed, trying to think of any way to lose his tail. Many thoughts passed through his mind such as chopping it off but such ideas were far too bloody to be done in his room. After some time of relaxing, he found that the tail had disappeared.  
  
"so that is the key" he said out loud "I just have to relax"  
  
He spent the rest of the night in his room, coming out only for supper. During that short time, he discovered that he truly despised Dr. Tar  
  
"Suiichi, big Suiichi that is." The annoying doctor began. "Your mother informed me that you work very well with gardens. I lack the time and the skills for such things but if you want to grow plants back there you are more than welcome."  
  
Kurama smiled and easily translated it from polite talk to truth. It came out like this "hey, you, ya, you. Your mom said that you like to garden. I don't care enough to make time and I frankly don't care about what my land looks like if I have to do it. Now that you are here, I would like you to make my yard look good."  
  
"I'll remember that" Kurama's thoughts wandered to his memories of the back yard. There were places for flowers but the only plant life consisted of a lopsided bush and a tree right out of How the Grinch Stole Christmas which was being supported by a stick that was smaller than it. He did not want to cave in to Dr. Tar but he also did not want his mother to know his much he hated him. Although he had known the doctor for only a short period of time, he could tell many things about his personality. He was clearly very narrow minded and did not want a son who did anything out of the ordinary. Kurama knew that he could never please this man. Almost everything about him was out of the ordinary. Dr. Tar's idea of a son would be one who was extremely successful in school though he clearly wanted that for Suiichi and not Kurama. Suiichi had to be better than any son. Kurama smiled slightly, knowing that he would be the perfect son, cutting away at any chance for him to brag about Suiichi. Kurama had forgotten about Youko.  
  
After the first day, school became more bearable. He would suffer through most of it, eating lunch far from any other students, and wait patently for art class. Once there, he would tell Upton all of his woes and Upton would laugh at them and then spin them around so that the poplars were things that they clearly were not. Upton started referring to groups as other things. The people who were above anyone else were the noble gases because, just like the real noble gases, they would not interact with anyone and could raise quite a stench when they wanted to. Their perfumes were so strong that sometime they themselves would sit a little farther away from each other. The glamour girls which all the guys wanted dates with were actually aliens sent here to learn about human culture but were failing miserably. Whenever one would suddenly burst into tears, which they did frequently whenever they felt that they were not in the limelight, a humors story about how she had to report to her leader would pass through the two friends.  
  
The Goths, hippies, etc. became Freaks Inc. and were the best place to rent freaks in the neighborhood. If one of them looked particularly sour then it was clear that they had not gotten a job lately. The jocks, none of whom were in art class because it was below them, were actually government experiments to determine if it was possible for a body to function normally without a brain being present. The experiment was a failure because although they could function, everyone could tell that they lacked a brain.  
  
Despite how bleak their outlook on society seemed to the casual observer, they were happy with it. Their invisibility in the social world allowed them to listen in on conversations with the greatest of ease. They knew when to appear in a hallway to watch a dramatic cat fight between a popular and a glamour girl, when to go to the bathroom and efficiently ruin a romantic moment by walking down the hall at just the right time, and when to tell a principal about people smoking in the bathroom to get their worst enemy. Roger was the only exception to this. They could not find one black speck on his perfect record. Red pens avoided his permanent record the way that peopled avoided lepers when they still existed. They knew that personally from a brief visit to the file cabinet in the office.  
  
Kurama was about to officially give up on the search for the gossip that would spark the downfall of the king when Upton bounded into art class with a particularly happy look on his face. "I've found it! The weak link in the chain, his Achilles heel, the needle in the haystack!" he announced, hardly containing his excitement. "regicide is in the works!"  
  
"Well, what is it?"  
  
"Never fear, even those as lowly as us shall learn of it via grapevine! That is just how big this is"  
  
"Well, how did you start it?"  
  
"I left a note on the floor under Miny's chair in third period. I heard her talking about it at lunch. When in doubt, get someone stupid to do it"  
  
Kurama just smiled and took his chair. Upton sat next to him, smiling so widely that he was worried about it knocking something over. The teacher clearly hated them for being happy. She picked at every single thing that either of them did wrong and even when they did not do something wrong.  
  
As Kurama walked down the halls on his way to his locker he realized that Upton had been telling the truth. As Roger passed groups of minions they looked at them and the exploded in gossip the moment that he passed. Kurama strained his ears to try to hear what they said but it was indistinguishable from the other noise. He took his books out of his locker and walked to his car. Again, people were gossiping. He could not wait to hear what Roger had done.  
  
"Hey, do you think Suiichi knows?" Kurama heard Miny asking one of her friends. Her friend answered that he had probably not, she bounced, literally bounced, over to him. "Hey, Suiichi."  
  
AH! Behold! I have the power to leave you hanging. You have the power to continue the stories. Send me your reviews! And I shall leave it up to you to decide what the rumor was because I don't know! Wait, wasn't supposed to say that! 


	4. last original chapter name because it's ...

Adaptation  
  
Kurama walked into his new house and went up to his bedroom. He nearly screamed when he found that it was filled with boxes. He was going to have to share with Suiichi. He went in there to see that another bed had been put where Suiichi's stereo had been. Suiichi was clearly not happy with this and labeled it under Kurama's faults even though Kurama would have preferred to live in a galaxy far far away than anywhere near Suiichi.  
  
Ignoring the hostility, Kurama dropped his book bag on his bed. He took out his sketch book and got back to work on drawing Jin. He could tell that Suiichi was looking around for something mean to say to him and he hoped that it would not anger him enough for Youko to show through. It would be very hard to explain to his new step brother that he really had to remove his pants because they had suddenly become very uncomfortable. It would be even harder to explain why he had a fox tale sprouting out of him.  
  
"Why do you only draw pictures of guys?" Suiichi asked in his most accusing tone.  
  
"I tried to draw a girl once" Kurama flipped back to a page with a failed attempt of Botan on it. "But I cant draw them very well at all."  
  
Suiichi went back to his bed. This invader thought that he was so good, better than Suiichi and everyone else. He had heard the rumors from school about Kurama but preferred to find another reason to hate him. There were many reasons lying around. Kurama was everything that his father wanted him to be. He was artistic, friendly, kind, and a know it all with perfect grades. He was always home before ten and never asked to stay out any later. If it was at all a fault, he talked on the phone for hours at a time. For that Suiichi had called him a teenage girl but Kurama had shrugged the comment off. It was more important to keep up with the current events in the spirit world than save money on the phone bill.  
  
Suiichi woke up that night to loud mumblings. He looked over and saw that Kurama was having a nightmare. "What an idiot" he muttered under his breath. "hey, stupid, up!"  
  
Kurama woke up and looked at Suiichi. He thanked him for waking him up but the thanks was treated like an unwanted rash. Suiichi clamed that he had only woken him up because he had woken him up and he could not get back to sleep.  
  
With the fall of Roger school became a better place. People still ignored him but they refused to insult him because that would make them like Roger. Eventually, Kurama began to feel sorry for Roger, all alone with no one to talk to. He began asking him questions at lunch. Finding that he was much more stand able and even nice once he had had his face shoved in the dirt, they started to become friends. Upton had been a little standoffish for some time before giving up and talking to Roger.  
  
The big breakthrough with Suiichi came a week later. Kurama was walking along when he heard a little kid scream. He ran off in that direction and saw Yusuke there. He immediately marched between Yusuke and the kid. He yelled at Yusuke for hurting the kid several times before he noticed that Suiichi's eyes had grown huge. Kurama had forgotten that Suiichi was with him and idolized Yusuke. He was in the middle of trying to think of an explanation when Kuwabara walked towards them. He greeted Kurama with a smile and Kurama did the same. Yusuke, on the other hand, greeted him with a fist in the gut for something that he had done last week.  
  
Suiichi watched in horror as the geeky-ist person that he knew had a conversation with his idol. Eventually he worked up the courage to ask Yusuke why he was talking with Kurama.  
  
"What?" Yusuke looked at him. "Do I have to ask permission before I talk to my friends?"  
  
Suiichi nearly jumped, Kurama was Yusuke's friend. Kurama's rating on Suiichi's cool-o-meter jumped up about twenty points in the time that it took Yusuke to say those words.  
  
As they walked home, Suiichi began talking to Kurama. Kurama smiled and accepted the unspoken apologies. He was jumping for joy by the time he got home, but not literally. Suiichi offered to let him chose the channel on the TV. In all of the time that he had spent with him, Kurama had never believed that Yusuke could ever be much of a help outside of missions.  
  
That night Kurama had another dream. Again, he was looking at Youko.  
  
"Suiichi, you may be happy now but the moment that something goes wrong and you get mad, I will be there to take over. You have my word"  
  
"I don't think that that will be necessary Kurama. Even though I cant stand my soon-to-be-step-father he has nothing about me that he hates. School is better and Suiichi thinks that I am a god now because I am friends with Yusuke. That may not be a good reason but at least he no longer wants to kill me. I can deal with my step-father on my own. There could only be trouble with him if I do something just to piss him off."  
  
"Or if he finds out" Youko smiled and disappeared  
  
"finds what out? Youko!" Kurama screamed desperately but received no answer.  
  
Hmm could there be a sequel in the works? You bet your butt! At least one Yaoi sequel and one non-yaoi sequel. They will not be nice and inter- working but I have a wonderful yaoi plot for this but I also have a wonderful non yaoi plot and I want to do both of them. Yaoi fans can read both because they will both be good. Non yaoi fans should read both as well but that is up to them. Will get to work on them ASAP!!! Oh, and nice feedback helps me work on them because they have competition with other stories that I want to write such as a prequel and possible sequel to Swords and Roses, another fic called Losses (one shot but a long one shot) what other competition is there, oh yes, the fic that was origianaly named losses but I didn't like how it sounded for that plot (too light when I needed more darkness) but is too good to kill off so it will get another name, another story that I am working on that doesn't have a name and therefore is not posted yet, Blessed be the Damned for They have no Tears to Cry, and something else I think. Need to look. As you can see, you must BEG me to work on stuff because otherwise I don't have enough time. Reviews are what reminds me that I have stories other than Swords and Roses, which I also need to work on. Only one or two chapters left, time to celebrate! Haven't decided. It depends on how much I want to put at the end. Yay for updates! 


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